Field Hockey Shuts Out Sacred Heart in Home Opener, 2-0

Saturday, September 14

Hamden, Conn.

12:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

(1-3, 0-0BIG EAST)

Sacred Heart

(1-6, 0-0NEC)

Sacred Heart

Quinnipiac

Photo by: Rob Rasmussen / P8Photos.com

Field Hockey Shuts Out Sacred Heart in Home Opener, 2-0

9/14/2019 2:19:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score

Bobcats Pick Up First Win of 2019 Behind Biermann-Ratjen's First Win

By: QU Athletic Communications

HAMDEN, Conn. - The Quinnipiac field hockey team returned home for the first time in the 2019 season and kicked off the home slate with a bang as the Bobcats blanked the Sacred Heart Pioneers, 2-0, Saturday afternoon.

Hedda Biermann-Ratjen (Hamburg, Germany) made her first career start, earned her first career win and picked up her first shutout with an impressive showing in the cage to lead the Bobcats.

Bianka Strubbe (Wroclaw, Poland) scored on a penalty stroke with just 20 seconds remaining in the first quarter and Eva Veldhorst (Maastricht, Netherlands) added a crucial insurance goal early in the fourth quarter as the Bobcats put away the Pioneers.

The Bobcats earned their ninth straight win over the Pioneers dating back to the 2009 season with Saturday's win.

SCORE
Quinnipiac 2, Sacred Heart 0

LOCATION
Quinnipiac Field Hockey Stadium | Hamden, Conn.

RECORDS
Quinnipiac (1-3, 0-0 BIG EAST) | Sacred Heart (1-6, 0-0 NEC)

SCORING SUMMARY

14:40 (Quinnipiac 1, Sacred Heart 0): Strubbe buried a penalty stroke in the right side of the cage late in the first quarter after a video referral reversed a call from a defensive save leading to a penalty corner to give the Bobcats a penalty stroke
47:49 (Quinnipiac 2, Sacred Heart 0): Off a penalty corner, the Bobcats had a shot blocked but Jess Halley (Glasgow, Scotland) fired a pass in for Veldhorst who controlled the ball, spun around and shot the ball low past Sacred Heart's goalie Hailey Power.

NOTES

Strubbe now has points in two of the three games in which she has played with her penalty stroke goal Saturday
Strubbe's goal was also the first she has scored at the Quinnipiac Field Hockey Stadium in her career, and she now has points in five of her last six games dating back to the 2018 season
Veldhorst scored her first career goal with her late-game tally for the Bobcats and had a season-high three shots on goal in the winning effort
Two of Quinnipiac's four goals this season have been scored by freshmen and three of the four have been first career goals
Halley picked up an assist on Veldhorst's goal for her third point of the season, surpassing her 2018 point total of two after a pair of helpers
Biermann-Ratjen recorded her first career win and first career shutout in her first start, and tied her personal best with six saves in the win.
In three games played, she now has a 1.03 GAA and .875 save percentage
Saturday marked Quinnipiac's first win in a home opener since the 2015 season
Becca Main earned her 197^th win of her career as she continues her quest for 200 career wins, looking to become the 41^st NCAA Division I Field Hockey coach to reach the mark.

FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Becca Main
"A win and a shutout for us today is really paramount in terms of the direction for the rest of the year. We left California knowing who we were and spent the past two weeks figuring out how to best get that reigned in and into a good position. We played a lot of different people today than we have played before so I'm happy for the outcome.

"Shutouts are something that we struggled with in the past three or four years. We just said to the team that when you get a shutout, that means every person on the field did something. That doesn't mean that players that were on the bench who didn't get in weren't important to that, it means 26 players and all the coaches had something get done. That was really more important to me than anything."

UP NEXT

The Bobcats look to continue their winning ways when they hit the road Monday for Long Island to take on the Hofstra Pride at 3 p.m. at the Hofstra Field Hockey Stadium.